Spyro the Dragon is a 1998 platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. As the first entry in the Spyro series, the game features Spyro, a young purple dragon, and his dragonfly companion, Sparx. The pair must travel across the Dragon Kingdom to defeat Gnasty Gnorc, who has taken control of the five dragon Homeworlds by trapping the dragons in crystal and transforming their gems into minions. Spyro the Dragon is an open-world 3D platformer with expansive levels where players must collect items such as gems, rescued dragons, and stolen dragon eggs. Spyro’s abilities include fire breath, a charging attack, and the ability to glide through the air, all of which are used strategically to gather items and defeat enemies.

Development of Spyro the Dragon began after the release of Insomniac’s first game, Disruptor. While Disruptor didn’t sell well, it earned positive reviews, which encouraged Universal Interactive to back a second project. Inspired by the film Dragonheart, the game originally aimed for a darker, more mature tone but was later changed to a more playful and light-hearted style to appeal to a broader audience. One of the game’s notable technical achievements was the use of a panoramic engine developed by Alex Hastings, which allowed for detailed, open-ended levels. The music was composed by Stewart Copeland, the former drummer of The Police, and the character of Spyro was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui, with additional voice work by Clancy Brown, Michael Gough, and Jamie Alcroft.